My Life, My Destiny
by Xaih
Summary: Things start from bad to worse as Harry returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A dream about a mysterious red-headed girl leads him to find a long-lost relative. DracoXOC


"_There's something you're hiding from me, Albus." Snape leaned forward with his eyebrow cocked slightly. His piercing black eyes stared at Dumbledore's backside, his patience wearing thin._

_With his hands clasped behind him, Dumbledore turned slightly to face the dark man. A solemn stare of concern told the story of a riddle that Snape was so eager to know; the old man knew it. A grin soon curved upon his lips before he turned to the sight of his empty bird cage._

"_I'm hiding something from everyone in Hogwarts, Severus." Dumbledore tapped his index finger against the metallic cage; no life came from it, and he expected it._

"_Not everyone." Snape's words were blatantly ignorant, and jealousy was perhaps the reason for it. "Minerva knows everything; I can feel it." Snape moved to his feet in demand, yet Dumbledore made no sudden movements. "I am just a part of this school as she is, and I have the same power as she does…unless I am mistaken."_

"_If you believe Minerva knows as much as I do, then take it up with her." Dumbledore turned once again with the same goofy grin as before. This time, however, the cage in front of him became much more apparent to Snape, yet it gave little insight._

"_What happened? Did your bird fly away?" Snape folded his arms across his chest in a cocky manner. Still, Dumbledore shook it off with his grin._

"_Fawkes was simply the symbol of our wait here in Hogwarts." Snape's eyebrow quirked up once more as Dumbledore stood in admiration in front of the cage. "His last minutes were the hint; now that he is gone, I must leave."_

_Dumbledore stepped towards the chair of his desk where Snape was standing in front of. He took a well-deserved seat down in the chair with a sigh. "Minerva will be in charge during my time away."_

_Snape stood with a questioning gaze down at his superior. For a moment, both spoke not a word until a small chuckle escaped Dumbledore's lips._

"_You're dismissed."_

Laughter, it surrounded him from the moment Harry took his seat in the compartment of the train. Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Fred, and George accompanied him within moments, but he made no remark. He hadn't spoken a word to them all morning unless he had to. Anger wasn't the issue, however. His bloodshot eyes hidden behind his glasses and the constant yawns sounding out from his mouth made it rather blunt to his issue.

"Harry," Ginny was the first to notice his unusual behavior. "Is everything alright?" The other four turned their immediate attention to him; it was the only thing that bothered him at that exact moment. He turned his gaze from the window nonchalantly and took a moment to stare at all of his friends. Why he was hesitating was simply from lack of sleep, for the most part.

"I had trouble sleeping…it's nothing." He shook his head and returned to the outside view, watching parents and other family wave goodbye to their children for the school year.

"Usually when you have trouble sleeping is because of…" Hermione leaned in closer, shifting her eyes back and forth before whispering, "You-know-who."

"He wasn't in my dream this time." Harry moved his hand up to his chin. "It wasn't a nightmare at all, to be perfectly honest with all of you." His head lowered slightly before his sight returned to his friends.

"He's messing with your head, Harry." Ron spoke with a sarcastic chuckle. "It's like…when you have a nice dream that still gives you trouble in the morning, you have to think that it's him."

"It doesn't seem like he's giving you a break at all, Potter." Fred chimed in with a solemn voice, unlike his younger brother.

Harry shook his head with a sigh. "I have a feeling that it's not his doing…I _know_ it's not him doing this. I'm not saying that it doesn't involve him at all…" he sighed with frustration, unable to explain his unexplainable thoughts.

"What was the dream about? Give us some insight on it so we can help you out." George leaned back into his seat, as if getting comfortable for an epic story to be told.

With a shrug, Harry spoke. "I don't know how to start it off, quite honestly. Everything around me was white, whiter than the snow when the sun hits against it…" he brushed his hand through his thick black hair. "I was walking through this tunnel or room…and there was a girl sitting down; it was easy to see, she was dressed in black. She had pale white skin…red hair, like pure red. She looked at me…and, I don't know how else to say this, but she burst into flames. That's when I woke up."

"Sounds like love," Fred laughed, while Ginny glanced away to hide her feelings.

"This isn't a joke, Fred, and this wasn't the first time it's happened."

"Look, Harry," Fred sat forward a little with his hand extended for emphasis. "Maybe you met a girl, and you just can't stop thinking about her. The fire could mean your passion or whatever it is you girls think of it as."

"Fred, stop it!" Hermione playfully smacked his arm. "This is obviously serious for Harry…maybe Dumbledore can help you out with your odd dream."

"Well…he helped me with quite a few before. It's worth a shot."

Harry returned his sight to the window, where several of the scenery around him was moving. He was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice the train leaving and heading for Hogwarts. With a sigh he leaned back; a long wait was a head of him, and he slowly became impatient, waiting to hear about his dream's meaning to everything.


End file.
